Tuesday, August 16, 2011

the easiest summer dessert

Summer's almost over, but it would be a shame if you let the next few weeks go by without making this uber-simple dessert. It is made with just three ingredients: prosccco, sorbet, and macerated fruit.

In this case, I used ginger-peach sorbet (from Ciao Bella), diced strawberries mixed with a little sugar, and a cheapy bottle of bubbly from my local wine shop. You simply layer the fruit and sorbet (a tall champagne glass is idea for this), then pour the prosecco on top and watch it bubble and fizz between the layers of cold sorbet and juicy fruit. A word of advice: assemble the desserts on top of a dish towel because it can get a little messy.

The idea is based on a recipe from Joanne Cheng of Boston's Flour Bakery. She uses lemon sorbet and strawberries, which I'm sure is delightful. But any combination of fruit would probably work: blueberries and lemon sorbet, peaches and raspberry sorbet (or vice versa), blackberries with strawberry sorbet.

The sorbet melts into the wine making a fruity drink you'll want to tilt back and drink slowly, relishing every last drop of summer.

In a small bowl, add the strawberries and sugar. Stir until combined. Let the strawberries macerate in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or overnight. When you are ready to serve the dessert, layer the berries and small scoops of sorbet in tall glasses, then pour a small amount of prosecco on top. Add extra prosecco if needed (it will be foamy at first). Serve immediately.